Conclusions and Convictions
by Lil Dreamer
Summary: Duo wakes up in Wufei's bed and wants to know what happened last night. No one's talking, but why? Rated for language.


**Conclusions and Convictions**  
Gundam Wing one-shot  
Rating: High PG-13, possibly R  
Warnings: bad words, yaoi implications (meaning I pretty much say, "They had sex," but no citrus beyond kissing), confused Duo, OOC Heero, talkative Trowa, OOC/oblique (is that even the word I'm looking for?) Wufei  
Notes: Gundam Wing, not mine.  
Pairings: Now if I told you that, what would be the fun in the fic? Ok, fine. 5+2, 2x5, 1x3x4.

Morning comes too early. Especially for those who had a little too much to drink last night. As soon as the first rays of the sun came in through the window, Duo Maxwell remembered this seemingly inconsequential fact. As he debated going back to sleep or facing the day with an already massive hangover, a few facts beginning with the sun shining through the window filtered their way through the haze:

1. Duo had purposely chosen both his room and his furnishings so the sun would never reach his bed, much less his eyes, all the better to sleep late or take midday naps.  
2. His bed was warmer somehow than it should be since he'd usually thrown the sheets and blankets off the bed by morning.  
3. His bed was making breathing noises, and, yeah, that was a heartbeat.  
4. He was nekkie. Ok, not really unusual.  
5. He was probably in deep shit.

He started screaming at himself. _All right, Maxwell, what the fucking hell happened last night?!? And who is this?_ He didn't know if he wanted it to be one of the others or a stranger. But since it was becoming increasingly apparent that he couldn't remember the night before, the only way to find out was to let the other person - guy, he could tell that much - know he was awake. The only way out would be if by some miracle Duo had woken first.

He steeled his resolve and opened his eyes - to find himself cuddled into the sleeping form of one Chang Wufei.

_Oh, shit._

***

He woke feeling different. He was comfortable, content, and warmer - but the warmth was coming from the inside. He was feeling a little smushed, too, but that particular query was resolved when he looked up into unguarded cerulean eyes centimeters away from his own. He didn't notice the faint smile appear on his lips as he barely breathed, "Quatre"

Quatre broke into a huge grin when he saw the expression on his teammate and partner's face. He really was beautiful when he let down his walls. Quatre didn't resist the temptation to lean forward and quickly kiss his smiling partner on the nose. That nose immediately scrunched up.

A soft chuckle broke the silence, and Quatre glanced just over the shoulder of the boy he was snuggled to. "Something you want, Trowa? You're interrupting the moment." Quatre's matter-of-fact voice and slight pout made the other two want to laugh at him. They knew both better.

Heero felt Trowa's arms tighten around him just before he was pulled back into a well-muscled chest. He moved an arm to stroke the unibanged pilot's forearms. He shivered and let his eyes slide shut as Trowa's lips hovered just above his ear.

"Did you enjoy last night, Heero?" Trowa's soft voice rang in deep tones that Heero could've sworn he felt.

"Mm"

"What was that, Heero?" Now Quatre joined the game, running slim fingers up and down Heero's exposed side.

"Hell, yes!"

Quatre really tried to stifle the giggle at that, he did. But it was not to be. He didn't want to do anything that would so much as nudge this vibrant boy back into the "Perfect Soldier" façade he'd been forced to live behind for so long. He and Trowa had decided almost as soon as they met him that they wanted to help open him up. The past few weeks had brought small changes to the stoic pilot, and the concerned lovers contented themselves with the baby steps. Somehow, though, the mask shattered last night. Gone was the cold, sometimes cruel, gun-toting Heero Yuy, and a rather affectionate and love-starved near-child now stood in his place. Or lay on the bed in his place, whatever.

Heero stuck his tongue out.

Quatre's eyes very nearly fell out of his head. "Trowa! Did you see what he did? You-" Quatre trailed off, unable to come up with anything, well, appropriate, to say. He simply glared at what he saw as a contented smirk on Heero's part (probably was) and set his jaw.

"Didn't see a thing." Now Trowa was receiving the full benefit of the glare.

Quatre was unable to hold the expression for long. After about two seconds he relented, "So, what are our plans for the day?"

"'Our'?"

"You can take it how you want it, Heero." Quatre gently pushed Heero's hair from his eyes. "We don't want to push you into anything. However much, however little, the choice has to be yours." He ran his hand down the side of his new lover's face and gently tilted his chin for a chaste kiss. "We'd be glad for you to join us, whatever we decide to do, but it won't bother us if you want to be alone."

"I guess my immediate plans for the day have to do with a shower."

Quatre smiled, "Go ahead. Use the one in here if you want."

"But- Shouldn't we talk or something? We need to work this out. I'm intruding-" By this time, Heero was sitting up, looking worriedly at the others.

Quatre and Trowa sat up, too. Quatre took Heero's hands in his own, a slight frown marring his face. "You're not intruding. _We_ asked you here. We talked about this last night, remember? I thought you were okay with everything."

"I was. Am. I just I don't know."

"Heero, take your shower. Quatre and I will discuss it. When you're finished, all three of us will sit down over breakfast and talk. Acceptable?" Trowa let out an unnoticed breath when Heero gave one sharp nod. He had to hide a laugh, though, when the confused pilot tried to figure out how to get out of the bed. Quatre took pity on him and helped forge a path through the mess of sheets, clothes, and limbs. It was fair, Trowa reflected. At least 90% of the mess on their floor was Quatre's.

Heero finally made it to the bath, and when they knew the sound of the water would drown out their voices, Quatre and Trowa fell back onto the pillows.

Quatre shifted so he was resting three-quarters on Trowa and began idly drawing circles across the tall boy's chest. "So We're supposed to talk about Heero."

"Mm-hm." Trowa's eyes were closed, but he reached out accurately for his lover's hand, entwining their fingers.

"Heero's got a nice ass."

"Mm-hm."

"Rest of 'im's not s'bad either." Quatre punctuated his statement with a yawn. A few seconds later, his breath had evened out enough that Trowa knew he was nearly asleep. Trowa let out a faint snort of laughter. Yes, they'd discussed Heero, but he didn't think that was quite what the other pilot had meant. Quatre could be so cute in the morning.

***

_Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. Gotta get away before he wakes up and tries to make me eat braid! Shit!_ Duo was faced with the problem of how to get safely away from one of the lightest sleepers he'd ever met. The idea made him feel dirty, like he was abandoning him in the middle of the night, but he'd rather feel dirty than dead. He revised that thought as he started to get up. _Hangover worse than dead. Dead good._

After 10 minutes of careful planning (and a lot of fervent praying to whomever would listen), he began his escape. Duo was completely silent as he extricated himself from the tangle of sheets and loosened Wufei's arm from his waist. _Fuck, how wasted were we last night?_ Duo was concerned. Wufei never drank. If he was drunk enough to hop in the sack with Duo, he was going to feel as bad as Duo did when he woke.

Duo made sure the bed wouldn't squeak when he got out and quickly gathered his clothes. There weren't many of them around. _Hm Strip poker, strip tease, dare, Monopoly So which was it? Ooh, I think I'm gonna be sick._ He ran into the bathroom that connected Wufei's and Heero's rooms and rested his forehead on the sink after he grabbed his boxers and socks. The cool helped a little, and before he went to his own room to shower and change, he grabbed a glass and a bottle of painkillers and set them down on Wufei's nightstand. _You're gonna need that, buddy._

Duo walked to the door and left. The whole time, he hadn't made a sound. He didn't look back, and he never saw the unhappy look that took the place of Wufei's normal mask of indifference.

***

He woke easily, as he always did. He looked at the weight on his arm and smiled. Soon the sun would be at a point to wake the other boy whether he liked it or not. Wufei smirked. He did not envy Duo this morning.

For the moment, though, he was content to be able to watch the braided one sleep. _I can't call you "braided" this morning, though, can I?_ Duo had allowed Wufei to take down his hair the night before, and he'd been amazed at the feel, the amount, the colors, everything. He risked waking the other to run a few strands through his fingers again. Wufei's own hair was down as well, and Duo had seemed impressed enough by the action.

Too soon, it was time for Helios to make his appearance. Wufei felt Duo's heart speed up and his muscles tense, and he inwardly frowned. It seemed he didn't remember yet. Wufei decided to feign sleep and see what the other would do. He never expected what happened.

Wufei watched through slitted eyes as Duo searched for his clothes, and it was obvious he was going to leave. Still Wufei remained silent. _Does he not remember? Duo_

Wufei felt something sharp twist inside him when Duo closed the bedroom door. _Duo, I thought_

He pulled the pillow to his chest and inhaled the faint scent of Duo. It would fade soon, but for now, it would have to be enough.

He never noticed the pillowcase suddenly get damp, and if he had noticed, he wouldn't have had anything left to care.

_I thought you did, too, Duo._

***

Heero secured the towel at his waist and opened the door to Quatre and Trowa's bedroom. He'd forgotten to grab his clothes when he went in, and he didn't want to go back without something covering him. He wasn't usually this modest; it was more or less like Duo had said the night before, "You ain't got nothing I ain't got." His proving it was not something Heero wanted to think of right now. But there were things about last night that still ate at him. He didn't want to push his luck.

He walked in to see a sleeping Quatre nearly on top of Trowa and smiled at the sight.

Trowa held a finger to his lips and motioned Heero closer. When Heero reached the bed, Trowa tugged his wrist, forcing Heero to sit on the side of the bed. Trowa had seen that Heero needed more alone time and decided to give him some. Before he spoke, he pulled the dark-haired pilot in for a slow kiss. He wanted to reassure Heero, but he also felt a little gypped from the morning's activities. Quietly, he said, "It's going to take a little while for me to get him up. Then I'll make breakfast. Meet us in half an hour, ok?"

Heero looked at him with relief. He didn't know how Trowa knew, but he was relieved he didn't have to ask for more time to think.

***

Duo sped through his shower and rebraided his hair in record time. He wanted to get out of the house for a little while, hopefully before Wufei was sentient. Less than twenty minutes after he'd woken, he dashed into the kitchen, grabbed some yogurt, fruit, and bottled water, and walked out the front door.

He was going to a spot out in the woods he didn't think anyone else knew about. He'd never seen or heard any sign of other people around. It was a huge, rickety treefort, and he'd taken it upon himself to fix it up a little each day. Out of habit, he walked a winding path through populated streets before cutting through an alley and running for the woods. The town's design was odd, but that just made it easier for him to get there without anyone following him.

He looked at the food he'd taken once he got settled. Yuck. He knew he needed the extra liquids fruit would provide, and it was okay stuff. Not what he'd choose, but okay. Yogurt, though, was evil. Food is not supposed to mush like that. But his stomach was still threatening to revolt, so he'd gone with mush.

He ate and fell back against the planks to stare at the sky and try to remember what he'd forgotten.

***

Heero walked slowly down the stairs toward the kitchen but stopped when he heard voices.

"How do you feel?"

"I could love him. I'm close already. But you already do, don't you?"

He didn't hear an answer, and there were a few seconds of silence before the conversation started again.

"Trowa, how do we work this? Do we have us anniversaries, or just Us anniversaries? Do we even think about anything us, or is everything Us now? And what about-"

"Quatre! Breathe. It'll be hard to worry when you die of asphyxiation. Don't you realize it's all up to him? Everything? We have to talk to him about this."

"But-"

"And if he's anything like you, any anniversaries will count. From last night, I'd say he is."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're a nymphomaniac. Shh, you don't want to scare him away before he gets here."

"Trowa!" Quatre managed to sound both insulted and proud in that one word, and Heero couldn't figure out just how. Suddenly he knew Trowa needed help.

"Pancakes!"

"Quatre, back off! I know you're hungry."

Heero grabbed Quatre around the waist and held down his arms. He pulled him in tight and smirked toward Trowa.

"Thanks. Make him sit." Trowa then shot Quatre a mock dirty look and turned back to the stove. "Blueberry, right?"

"Hn." Trowa took that as an affirmative and poured more batter.

Once Heero got Quatre to the table, he had some problems relating the meaning of the word "stay." Finally he sat himself, grabbed Quatre, and plopped him on his lap. This created a new problem since Quatre wouldn't stop squirming, and Heero gasped out, "What is with you this morning?"

Quatre twisted so he was facing the not-so-quiet pilot and reached down to stroke his "chair" through his shorts. In lieu of answering, Quatre leaned in for a kiss.

Heero responded to the sensations, kissing back even as he was thinking,_ Where the hell did he get coffee?_

Trowa walked in with breakfast just as Quatre began attacking Heero's neck. He stopped, looked, and blinked. Then he smirked. He felt Heero should be allowed a preview of what he was getting into, so when Quatre decided coffee sounded good with pancakes and asked Trowa if it was decaf or not, he'd insinuated it was. Quatre was bad enough sometimes without chemical influences, but it seemed Heero was handling him ok. Trowa could already tell the day was going to be amusing.

"Breakfast." The magic word, and Quatre was off Heero, in his own seat, and dishing out food in less than a second.

Quatre was half-way though his pancakes before he noticed Heero hadn't touched his. "Heero, aren'tcha gonna eat?"

Heero latched shell-shocked eyes onto Trowa, who looked distinctly like he was laughing inside. Heero narrowed his eyes. "You did that on purpose."

"Eat. Then we'll talk."

***

As they were finishing, a frowning Wufei walked in. Trowa raised an eyebrow at the expression. He thought after last night

"Good morning, Wufei. Would you like something to eat?" Quatre had apparently reverted to his normal, cheerful, non-gropey self. Heero was afraid to hope it would last long, though. He was beginning to understand why Trowa monitored Quatre's eating habits. Seemed it wasn't just because he was an overprotective lover

"No, thank you. I have to run some errands. Did any of you need anything?" All three noticed how distracted Wufei seemed, but none wanted to comment.

"I don't think so. Have you seen Duo? I thought when he smelled the pancakes he'd be down here." Quatre was trying to find a roundabout way to ask.

"I haven't seen Duo this morning." With that, Wufei strode toward the garage, intent on getting his bike and leaving.

"What should I tell Duo if he asks?"

Wufei paused, not looking back. "Not that he will, but asks what?"

"Anything. Where you went, about last night"

"Tell him I went to the store. Don't talk to him about last night."

Heero noticed the rigid posture and slumped shoulders when Quatre started talking. He'd been around Duo long enough to have an idea what might have happened. _Duo, if you screw this up, omae o korosu!_ Aloud he said, "We get it. We won't say anything."

Wufei nodded and walked out. When they heard his bike roar out of the garage, Trowa and Quatre turned to Heero. "Why?"

"It's a Duo thing. We have to let him handle it. And if he screws it up, he screws it up. This isn't something that someone else can do for him. Wufei knows that, too." He was still watching the door. A few seconds later, he turned back to his more-than-just friends with a tiny shy smile. "So, is it time for our talk yet?"

***

That afternoon, sheer necessity drove Duo home. He was hungry, and after breakfast and a nap in the treehouse, he was feeling much more alive. Then he walked into the Twilight Zone. He'd opened the front door to see Trowa reading in his usual armchair. That he could handle, happened once a day, at least. The figures on the couch were another story, though. Heero sat at the far end typing on his laptop with his left hand while his right played in Quatre's hair. Quatre was napping with his head in Heero's lap and his hand in a very friendly place on Heero's thigh. Duo tried to clear his eyes, but the scene didn't change.

He decided not to ask.

The kitchen was normal, at least. He heard someone behind him and spun to face a sleepy Quatre.

"I hope you didn't need anything from the store. Wufei went awhile ago."

"Wufei? Um, how'd he seem this morning?"

Quatre shrugged as he reached into the fridge for the water pitcher. "Like Wufei. Why?"

"No reason, really. Quatre, what happened here last night?"

"Here?" Quatre looked over at the door. Heero was standing there Looking at him.

"Did I do anything strange?" Duo still hadn't noticed who Quatre was looking at.

"Duo, I wouldn't know. I was kind of preoccupied last night." He had been preoccupied, so it wasn't really a lie. He also knew exactly what Duo had done up to a point, but Heero and Wufei seemed to think it best not to tell him. But Quatre knew he could be worn down. He fairly ran to Heero's side and dragged him back to the couch. He shoved Heero down and buried his face in Heero's chest. "I don't like secrets," he mumbled.

Heero was beginning to think the only thing he was really bringing to this relationship was an easier-to-move piece of furniture.

Duo stared back into the Twilight Zone before opening the door to the back porch. It was nice outside. More importantly, it was normal outside.

***

Wufei steered his bike into the garage and walked to the house. Heero and Quatre were curled up on the couch and Trowa was doing his special version of reading, which Wufei knew for a fact meant he was watching his lovers, only turning pages to keep them from noticing. After last night, he thought they'd work things out, and he was glad to see he was right about something.

Trowa caught Wufei's eye and motioned toward the back porch. _Duo, I guess._

Did he really want to go out there? He'd wandered around the small town the whole day, shopping, thinking, not thinking, whatever. He didn't like the decision he'd come to, but it was the only one that didn't make him feel like a cretin and gave him any chance of ever getting Duo back. While it was true that Duo deserved and respected honesty more, Wufei still decided to keep the truth hidden. Now he had to go out there and talk to him.

Wufei sat on the steps. Duo was about a couple of meters away in an old rocking chair. Neither spoke.

Wufei still sat. Duo still rocked. The sun began to set. No one spoke.

Only after the sun was completely down did Wufei break the silence. "How was your day?"

"Surreal." Duo spoke so softly Wufei feared he might miss something.

He still gazed toward the darkening sky. "What you did this morning was cowardly." He paused to draw in a deep breath and turned to look Duo in the eye. Duo looked stricken. "But if I'd been in your place, I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing." He kept watching Duo until the boy turned away.

"What happened last night, Wufei? And why was I apparently the only one hung-over? I know I wasn't the only one drinking. Quatre" Duo trailed off and frowned at something in the distance.

"I had the good sense to drink plenty of water last night. Trowa always makes sure Quatre does, as well. That helped. Ibuprofen, I saw Heero with a bottle last night. Plus, I'm sure those three were up long enough to work most of the alcohol out of their system. You did drink a good deal more than we did, Duo."

"So what was it I didn't remember? What happened?"

"Duo, I can't tell you that. This is a puzzle you need to solve yourself. If I gave you the answers and didn't let you work it out yourself, if anyone did, you'd rarely come up with the same conclusions, and you'd never come to the same convictions as if we'd left it be. That's why I can't tell you." Wufei left the porch and made his way to his room to sit in the dark and not-think some more. He wasn't sure he'd done the right thing, but he was sure it was as right as it would ever be.

Duo watched him leave. "No, that wasn't confusing at all, Wufei." He noticed that Wufei'd only called him by his first name the whole time they'd been speaking.

He turned back to watch the stars. _What happened last night, Wufei? Did I dream it, or did you really say you loved me?_

  
~owari~  


Please, if you read this far at least review or vote. It takes 2 seconds, even if you want to tell me it sucked (I'd really appreciate knowing why you think that, though). I usually don't even ask for reviews, but the last three projects I've done have gotten virtually nothing. RL people I know who read my stories tend to like them, but they probably have to say that. Please review?


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